Professional Poker Player Seeks to Overturn Gambling Ban

(AsiaGameHub) –   Professional poker competitor Caesars Andrew Nguyen has been barred from all gambling activities after being linked to an illegal gambling scheme in Chicago, Illinois, and he is now seeking to overturn the ban that effectively blocks him from joining any gambling contests — legal or otherwise.

Defense Argues Their Client Should Be Permitted to Pursue His Lawful Profession

This is a major setback for the young professional poker player, and his legal team moved to address the issue by filing paperwork with the US District Court in Hammond, Indiana, last Thursday.

In a formal complaint, the player’s attorney argues that the illegal gambling case connected to Nguyen’s name should not prevent him from competing legally as a poker player, which is his primary source of income.

In reality, Nguyen never had any association with the alleged operation beyond participating as a player. His legal team notes that he never worked as an enforcer or bookmaker, and was instead one of the scheme’s victims. For his part, Nguyen only wants to return to playing cards and competing in legal events.

Nguyen was arrested during a police operation that led to a total of 22 people being taken into custody for ties to the Gerodemos Gambling Organization, which ran its operations out of restaurants across both Northwest Indiana and suburban Chicago. The ring was led by a man known as “Jimmy the Greek,” or James Gordemos, who operated the network alongside his associate Dean Gailamas, also known as “Dean Gem.”

Nguyen specifically faces charges of running an illegal gambling business, as well as aiding and abetting the transmission of wagering information — accusations that directly contradict the claims made by his legal team.

Victim of Circumstance, Not a Criminal Mastermind

This is the point where Nguyen’s attorneys go into explicit detail, noting that their client only ever connected gamblers to the group, and never held any ongoing role in the operation as an operator, manager, bookmaker, or owner of any venue used to host gambling games.

If anything, Nguyen was himself a victim of the criminal operation, and is even listed as “Victim 3” in official court documents. He was threatened by the outfit over a $7,500 sports bet that he was unable to pay on time.

He received cryptic but clearly unambiguous threatening messages regarding the unpaid debt, with Gerodemos stating he would recover the money one way or another.

His legal team further emphasized that whatever limited connection he may have had to the Gerodemos operation never took place at any official gambling location, and never made use of his skills or professional connections as a poker player, so Nguyen should be allowed to continue building his career as a poker player.

Nguyen’s defense called the ban — which even prohibits him from accessing offshore gambling websites or visiting any licensed poker card room in the United States — an excessive overcorrection, and is asking the court to let him continue working in his lawful career as a poker player.